Snowplows punched holes Tuesday in rural roads that were plugged since Sunday with snowdrifts as deep as 10 feet, said Lenawee County Road Commission officials.

"They're not fully open, but they're passable," said Jason Schnaidt, operations manager for the road commission.

Ten-foot snowdrifts were encountered on Sims Highway, just west of Morenci, he said. Deep drifts developed across the southern half of the county, Schnaidt said, and on some roads in the northwest corner.

"We've made a hole in them. Nothing that looks very pretty, but we've made a hole so people can get in and out," he said.

A Level B snow condition yellow was continued in Lenawee County until roads that were drifted shut can be widened, he said.

"There's no way a school bus or a small car is going to get down them," Schnaidt said.

Schnaidt said plow drivers encountered a few vehicles stuck in snow on Tuesday, but fewer than Sunday and Monday when abandoned vehicles slowed efforts to open roads.

Snowplow drivers were to again start work at 4 a.m. Wednesday after working over the past weekend and 12-hours shifts on Monday and Tuesday. The effort Wednesday will focus on clearing and widening rural roads, Schnaidt said.

Warmer temperatures predicted for Thursday will allow spreading salt and sand the length of county paved roads, he said, to melt hard-packed snow.

Drifting that was a problem since Saturday eased Tuesday when the wind subsided. Schnaidt said sub-zero temperatures on Tuesday caused some sanders to freeze up, but equipment problems he expected with the frigid weather did not develop.